1949-09-06
A former sharpshooter in World War II, Howard Unruh kills 13 neighbors in Camden, New Jersey, with a souvenir Luger to become the first U.S. single-episode mass murderer.

1949-09-29
The Communist Party of China writes the Common Programme for the future People's Republic of China.

1949-01-01
United Nations cease-fire takes effect in Kashmir from one minute before midnight. War between India and Pakistan stops accordingly.

1949-08-10
U.S. President Harry S. Truman signs the National Security Act Amendment, streamlining the defense agencies of the United States government, and replacing the Department of War with the United States Department of Defense.

1949-12-13
The Knesset votes to move the capital of Israel to Jerusalem.

1949-09-27
The first Plenary Session of the National People's Congress approves the design of the Flag of the People's Republic of China.

1949-09-30
The Berlin Airlift ends.

1949-09-06
Allied military authorities relinquish control of former Nazi Germany assets back to German control.

1949-05-23
The Federal Republic of Germany is established and the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany is proclaimed.

1949-02-14
The Knesset (Israeli parliament) convenes for the first time.

1949-04-17
At midnight 26 Irish counties officially leave the British Commonwealth. A 21-gun salute on O'Connell Bridge, Dublin, ushers in the Republic of Ireland.

1949-08-29
Soviet atomic bomb project: The Soviet Union tests its first atomic bomb, known as First Lightning or Joe 1, at Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan.

1949-03-25
The extensive deportation campaign known as March deportation is conducted in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to force collectivisation by way of terror. The Soviet authorities deport more than 92,000 people from the Baltics to remote areas of the Soviet Union.

1949-01-17
The Goldbergs, the first sitcom on American television, first airs.

1949-05-20
In the United States, the Armed Forces Security Agency, the predecessor to the National Security Agency, is established.

1949-06-25
Long-Haired Hare, starring Bugs Bunny, is released in theaters.

1949-01-11
First recorded case of snowfall in Los Angeles, California.

1949-12-10
Chinese Civil War: The People's Liberation Army begins its siege of Chengdu, the last Kuomintang-held city in mainland China, forcing President of the Republic of China Chiang Kai-shek and his government to retreat to Taiwan.

1949-07-01
The merger of two princely states of India, Cochin and Travancore, into the state of Thiru-Kochi (later re-organized as Kerala) in the Indian Union ends more than 1,000 years of princely rule by the Cochin Royal Family.

1949-03-31
The Dominion of Newfoundland joins the Canadian Confederation and becomes the 10th Province of Canada.

1949-08-05
In Ecuador an earthquake destroys 50 towns and kills more than 6000.

1949-02-08
Cardinal Mindszenty of Hungary is sentenced for treason.

1949-03-08
Mildred Gillars ("Axis Sally") is condemned to prison on count of treason

1949-03-02
Captain James Gallagher lands his B-50 Superfortress Lucky Lady II in Fort Worth, Texas after completing the first non-stop around-the-world airplane flight in 94 hours and one minute.

1949-04-01
The twenty-six counties of the Irish Free State become the Republic of Ireland.

1949-08-24
The treaty creating NATO goes into effect.

1949-09-04
Maiden flight of the Bristol Brabazon.

1949-01-15
Chinese Civil War: The Chinese Communist Party forces take over Tianjin from the Nationalist Government.

1949-12-07
Chinese Civil War: The government of Republic of China moves from Nanking to Taipei.

1949-12-16
Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget, later knows as SAAB, is founded in Sweden.

1949-04-01
The Canadian government repeals Japanese Canadian internment after seven years.

1949-05-20
The Kuomintang regime declares martial law in Taiwan.

1949-02-14
The Asbestos Strike begins in Canada. The strike marks the beginning of the Quiet Revolution in Quebec.

1949-10-07
German Democratic Republic (East Germany) formed.

1949-04-28
Former First Lady of the Philippines Aurora Quezon, 61, is assassinated while en route to dedicate a hospital in memory of her late husband; her daughter and 10 others are also killed.

1949-02-19
Ezra Pound is awarded the first Bollingen Prize in poetry by the Bollingen Foundation and Yale University.

1949-10-16
The diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union and the German Democratic Republic are established.

1949-10-14
Eleven leaders of the American Communist Party are convicted, after a nine-month trial in a Federal District Court, of conspiring to advocate the violent overthrow of the U.S. Federal Government.

1949-04-05
A fire in a hospital in Effingham, Illinois, kills 77 people and leads to nationwide fire code improvements in the United States.

1949-12-08
The capital of the Republic of China is moved from Nanjing to Taipei, Taiwan.

1949-07-21
The United States Senate ratifies the North Atlantic Treaty.

1949-04-18
The aircraft carrier USS United States (CVA-58) is laid down at Newport News Drydock and Shipbuilding. However, the United States is canceled five days later, resulting in the Revolt of the Admirals.

1949-10-01
The People's Republic of China is declared by Mao Zedong.

1949-01-20
Point Four Program a program for economic aid to poor countries announced by United States President Harry S. Truman in his inaugural address for a full term as President.

1949-03-30
A riot breaks out in Austurvöllur square in Reykjavík, when Iceland joins NATO.

1949-06-24
The first Television Western, Hopalong Cassidy, is aired on NBC starring William Boyd.

1949-09-04
The Peekskill Riots erupt after a Paul Robeson concert in Peekskill, New York.

1949-08-08
Bhutan becomes independent.

1949-03-02
The first automatic street light is installed in New Milford, Conn..

1949-10-16
Nikolaos Zachariadis, leader of the Communist Party of Greece, announces a "temporary cease-fire", effectively ending the Greek Civil War.

1949-05-12
The Soviet Union lifts its blockade of Berlin.

1949-05-11
Siam officially changes its name to Thailand for the second time. The name had been in use since 1939 but was reverted in 1945.

1949-08-03
The National Basketball Association is founded in the United States.

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QUOTES:

It cannot in the opinion of His Majesty's Government be classified as slavery in the extreme acceptance of the word without some risk of terminological inexactitude.

Winston Churchill

If someone betrays you once, it's his fault If he betrays you twice, it's your fault.

Unknown

Governing sense, mind and intellect, intent on liberation, free from desire, fear and anger, the sage is forever free.